Saturday, January 08, 2011

What an idiot I am for picking the Jaguars as my best bet. That might have ruined my season. If I had just picked New England instead I'd have 50 which is 1 point off the desired 3-per-week pace. But now the playoffs are here and there is plenty of time to make up for it.

new orleans -10 SEATTLEI wanted to make this one my best bet but it seems a little too obvious, and fraught with risks. The Seahawks have lost 9 times this season, all by margins greater than 10. In fact the closest they were in defeat all season was losing to New Orleans 34-19. But here's my fear. The Saints are up 27-10 late. They have the ball and can't run it for a first down because all they have is Reggie Bush and Julius Jones. Seattle gets it back and scores a garbage touchdown to break the spread. I normally don't worry about things like that, but it seems too plausible in this situation.

new york jets +3 INDIANAPOLISI think with all the injuries for the Colts this matchup actually plays into the Jets hands. If Revis and Cromartie can cover the outside receivers Manning is going to have to rely on Jacob Tamme. The key will be Mark Sanchez but this doesn't seem like a defense that will really give him major problems.

baltimore -3 KANSAS CITYI actually think Kansas City has been very underrated all season, not just in terms of their record, but in terms of their talent. They are not a group of overachieving underdogs. They have a lot of good players on both sides of the ball. But I like the Ray-vens Rays (Rice and Lewis) to take control of this game and eke out a victory.

BEST BETPHILADELPHIA -2 1/2 green bayThe only game this weekend that can't end in a push. That scares me, honestly. I also like that a lot of people are taking Green Bay. They think that Green Bay's pressure will get to Vick but yes, Vick will take sacks but when he is pressured he runs, and when he runs he is most effective. He is not a pocket passer, even though he can throw that deep ball, the Eagles offense is better when he is out of the pocket running.

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

I often talk about something (though surprisingly I have never written about it here) called the Life Points Theory or PALPT. Basically it postulates that we are all of equal talents and blessings. Those among us who have one amazing gift are often robbed of abilities in other areas (really good looking dumb people, socially awkward geniuses, in the rare case, Stephen Hawking). That brings us to the story of Ted Williams, a homeless man in Columbus, Ohio who gained reknown among locals for his amazing voice.

Watch what happens when a crew from the Columbus Dispatch rolls up on Williams:

That clip has gone viral and the offers are pouring in for Williams. He's reportedly got offers from the Cleveland Cavaliers to do in-arena announcing. Even NFL Films might be interested. Imagine how many bbms Juice and I would exchange about an episode narrated by that guy.

Seems like Mr. Williams is simply a man who fell on hard times, some of it self-inflicted, and is now willing to admit his mistakes, accept responsibility and move on with his great gifts. I wish him the best and hope to hear him voicing over NFL highlights in the near future.

Life is Not FairThere are lot of people complaining that the Seattle Seahawks don't belong in the playoffs at 7-9, especially not when the 10-6 Giants and ExpensiveCornPrices are sitting home. Those two teams both beat the Seahawks during the season, 41-7 and 38-15 respectively. I totally understand the fairness issue but I warn about making sweeping rule changes to fix a problem that comes along very seldom.Let's look at what's wrong with the possible solutions:1) Never allow a losing team into the playoffs. This one makes the most sense from the surface but I don't like something with this much inconsistency. Wouldn't it have been weird if last night's game could have put the Rams in if they won, but if the Seahawks won, the Giants would have gotten in? Makes no sense.2) Throw out divisions, the 6 best records get in. I don't like this because you want to keep as many teams in contention for as long as possible and you want to keep division rivalries. It would be very unbalanced scheduling if you kept the division alignments but didn't reward division winners.3) Award home-field playoff games to the team with the better record. This I could get behind. I see no reason why division winners need to be rewarded with a home playoff game.

Rex Grossman: Quarterback of the FutureOnly a few months ago Donovan McNabb was coming to the Redskins with something to prove and Michael Vick was mired on the bench behind Kevin Kolb. Now Michael Vick is runner-up for MVP and Donovan McNabb has an uncertain future. There is no way in the world McNabb comes back to the Redskins next season, whenever that is. I think the Vikings are a good landing place for him. I think the Redskins will draft a quarterback but since it won't be Andrew Luck, it will be someone else who needs time to develop (Jake Locker?) I think they need to give Grossman the time to prove he's learned and grown through his NFL career.

The Giants Have No One to Blame But ThemselvesA lot of Giants fans are crying right now (because Giants fans are big babies) about finishing 10-6 and missing out on the playoffs to a team with a worse record by 3 games, that they beat by 34 earlier this season. But after two straight debacles against the Eagles and Packers the Giants have to look no further than the man in the mirror. Eli Manning through [oops] 25 INTs, and the Giants lost 17 fumbles, you just can't make up for that even when you lead the league in takeaways. But there is good news for Giants fans. They have great young players at many offensive positions, they are great up front on defense, and by erasing a few mistakes they could easily have been 12-4 or 13-3.

If the Super Bowl Were Played TodayNew England 31 Atlanta 14I will go into breaking down this week's matchups and the entire postseason in separate posts this week but right now the Pats are playing above the rim. Some team would have to come out like a house of fire, injure Tom Brady, take the ball away 5 times to beat the Patriots in New England in the AFC playoffs. I could see the Falcons, Eagles and maybe Packers giving them a hard time in the Super Bowl, but I doubt it.

Watch the UFC long enough and you will see some pretty gruesome things. Usually it's just a lot of blood (like Diego Sanchez after a beating from BJ Penn). You even see cuts so bad they get their own nickname like Marvin Eastman's Goat's Vagina. Sometimes you see a guy get his eye punched swollen shut like Josh Koscheck after GSP got through with him. And there is the occassional broken bone, like the freak broken leg Corey Hill suffered when his kick was checked.

But Saturday night during UFC 125 Brandon Vera's broken nose was so bad it even disgusted Vera himself. He saw his hideous visage on the Jumbotron and shielded his eyes.

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

I always get worked up over Hall of Fame voting, especially baseball, even though I say I won't. This year there are a lot of interesting candidates. I don't want to analyze stats on them, just give a quick reaction to them:Roberto Alomar - YES, best at his position during his era.Jeff Bagwell - YES, phenenomenal offensive stats. His numbers hold up compared to players over other generations even when adjusted for era. I am pretty sure he was juiced but since his name has never even come up, even I find that hard to hold against him. Bert Blyleven - NO, good pitcher for a long time, never great, too many negative stats.Juan Gonzalez - NO, really good for too short a time, and an obvious steroid user.Barry Larkin - YES, he wasn't quite Cal Ripken but he was second best shortstop during his playing career and that includes an MVP award -- rare for a shortstop.Edgar Martinez - YES, his offensive stats are beyond compare. If you aren't going to allow designated hitters into the the Hall now matter how good they are, then you shouldn't have the designated hitter. Closers get in, and they only pitch one inning.Mark McGwire - NO, a marginal Hall of Famer otherwise, but now that we know he cheated, I say no wayRafael Palmeiro - NO, the only one of these guys actually caught by the testing. It would be impossible to keep someone with his numbers out of the Hall if not for the steroids.Larry Walker - YES, but for purely selfish reasons

Here's the big problem with how I voted and the way many real Hall of Fame voters are voting: if you keep out known steroid users, what happens if someone you voted in, whom you had no prior reason to suspect of steroid use, later admits usage, do you revoke their induction?

1. Mrs. Poop and I will not have a single fight all year. So far, so good2. Julian will learn to walk and talk3. His first word will be "Chase"4. He'll probably say something like "Chay" but Mrs. Bates will tell us it still counts5. This is the year Chase finally starts to take interest in the Mets6. The Mets will trade Jose Reyes7. The Patriots, Phillies and Heat will win the Super Bowl, World Series and NBA Finals8. The Super Bowl will be the last NFL game played in 20119. Unemployment will fall to 8.4% in December10. The Dow will hit 13,00011. When Sirius-XM shares hit $2 I will e-mail TON "when your stock is up, your cock is up"12. Razor will experience great personal growth when she ceases working from home and moves to a real office, surrounded by real people instead of cats13. Razor will no longer have time to scour her computer to send me pictures of GauntSkott from back when he was FatScat and tipping the scales at nearly 3 bills14. Nails will scream "DIE!" at the TV while watching a sporting event15. The Concierge will reply to a bbm within two days of it being sent16. Billie and Alison will have a very hard time deciding which of them their new baby resembles most17. I'll blame Coach Boeheim for Syracuse's eventual loss in the NCAA Tournament18. JLeary will remain my favorite Poophead as TON and Billie get too busy with parenthood to read this blog19. Cain Velazquez will beat Junior Dos Santos but lose the UFC Heavyweight belt to Shane Carwin20. Jonny Bones Jones will be UFC Light Heavyweight Champion21. Reissberg will spill food on his shirt22. Juice will propose but he won't get down on one knee because he can't stay still that long

Monday, January 03, 2011

While some of you were bitching about the snow and the fact that lazy union workers didn't plow your streets for five days as an illegal protest against layoffs and budget cuts, Chase and I were making the best of it.

We went to Cora's house and went down the slide into a huge pile of snow.

Then I helped smooth out a nice track of hard packed down snow to sled on.

And then I pushed Chase down the hill so he got going really fast. By the end it became like a bobsled or luge course where if the kids leaned too far to one side they would have wiped out. And the straighter they stayed the faster they went.

Then when we got home we built a huge pile of snow, and the next day we dug out a hole to create Fort Chase. Chase wanted to take his nap in there and looking into bringing a TV into his Fortress of Solitude.

Sunday, January 02, 2011

Final week of the regular season, I'm not where I want to be but you can still pick up ground in the playoffs. Week 17 is always tricky especially as precious few teams have something to play for. There will be at least one or two teams who are playing for something losing to teams who are eliminated. That's what makes this week so tricky, otherwise we could just pick all the alive teams versus all the Zombies.

SEATTLE +3 st. louisWe just seemed destined to have a 7-9 team in the playoffs.

DETROIT -3 minnesotaMy rule about backup quarterbacks only extends one week. It remains to be seen how good this Joe Webb really is. And I think the Lions are the team that comes on strong at the end of a season, has good young players and gets talked about all offseason as a possible playoff team.

ny giants -3 1/2 WASHINGTONI just don't see any way the Redskins can ruin the Giants season.

NEW ENGLAND -5 1/2 miamiI have a feeling Belichick doesn't want to give his team off two weeks in a row, not when they are playing as good as they are now.

BEST BETjacksonville -3 HOUSTONI believe Houston was favored the last time these two teams played and Jacksonville killed them. Everyone passes on Houston and I just don't see the Texans being motivated to be a spoiler as the Jags finally have a chance to end the Colts run atop the division.